Sponsored
each year by the Massachusetts Municipal Association, the Kenneth E. Pickard
Municipal Innovation Award recognizes unique and creative projects and programs
that increase the effectiveness of local government. Judged by former municipal
officials, consultants, and professors, an innovation must address a problem
that is common to municipalities across the Commonwealth in an original,
cost-effective, and efficient way. Winning innovations must improve a municipal
service, administration, or performance, while adaptability to other communities
is also a consideration. This award lets municipalities recognize successfully
established innovative programs or projects and to share these new, unique, and
effective solutions with other cities and towns.

Last
fall, Involution Studios of Arlington, MA,
along with the Town of Arlington and Finance Committee members Annie Lacourt
and Alan Jones, conceptualized a web application that provides an easier way to
communicate complex municipal financial information. Involution donated all
development services for this project, the first known municipal budget visual
representation of its kind.